PART II

HOW TO ACQUIRE POISE


CHAPTER I

MODESTY AND EFFRONTERY CONTRASTED


"Never force your talents" a well-known writer has said. One always
feels like crying this to those who, thinking to reach the goal of
poise, fall into excess and develop effrontery and exaggeratedness.

Poise can not exist without coolness. We have seen that this quality is
rarely met with in enthusiasts.

It is never found in those who have effrontery.

Poise does not consist in the species of ostentatious carelessness which
essays to travel through life as a child might wander among hives of
bees without taking any precautions against being stung.

Neither is it that false courage that drives one headlong into a
conflict without any thought as to the blows likely to fall upon the